Corn Maze Michigan

Countryside Greenhouse's $7 million expansion will relocate popular retail ...

ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP — From above, the rows of greenhouse roofs off Pingree Street stand out like a sea of reflective white enveloped on all sides by the lush green farmland for which the township is famous.

Since 1982, the Buist family has incrementally expanded their Countryside Greenhouse from a small wholesale business into a regional destination for plants of all shapes, sizes and colors. But such expansion has its limits. Even the flowers are starting to throw some elbows in the crowded space.

“It can be a little frustrating for people in here right now,” said owner Dale Buist, a long-time Allendale native with deep roots in the community.

After recently getting approval from township officials, Buist plans to relocate his retail operations on the main drag west of Allendale, on 107 acres off Lake Michigan Drive and 92nd Avenue, near the border with Robinson Township.

The roughly $7 million project will allow Countryside to diversify into an activity-oriented farm market, complete with self-pick pumpkin and strawberry patches, sweet corn and lavender fields, a corn maze, orchard rides and other farm festivities as it expands.

“Something for the family to come out and have a little fun,” said Buist.

Plans call for a 7,477-square-foot main building to sit in front of a 240,000-square-foot greenhouse next to an 80,900-square-foot open-air portion, ringed by crop fields. The Pingree Street facility will be converted into a production space.

Ground breaking on the new operation is scheduled for June and construction is expected to take 18 months. The business is shooting for a spring 2013 grand opening.

Unfortunately for Buist, that’s a year later than he was planning. Site plan approval process was delayed by a revision of the township’s farm market ordinance and opposition to proposed language by another prominent farming family.

Allendale True Value Hardware owner Harley Sietsema lobbied the township to tighten restrictions on the amount of nonfarm-produced products that could be sold, warning of retail encroachment upon agricultural zones.

The resulting rules allow Allendale farm markets no more than 20 percent of total space and sales to be non-farm products — less than Buist was hoping for — but acceptable enough for someone who threatened to leave the township.

“I really wanted to build in Allendale,” Buist said. “I’m glad the township acknowledged that.” The new operation will employ about 200 people, many of them part-time seasonal workers drawn from the student population. Buist employs many Grand Valley State University athletes, who he said have the stamina for demanding farm work.

Pure Michigan Corn Maze | Pure Michigan Connect

Saturday nights, visitors can experience the Moonlight Maze after dark and navigate the cornstalks with nothing but a glow stick and map — all ages welcome! While you’re at Izzi Farm you can also enjoy finding that perfect pumpkin from a four-acre pumpkin patch and browsing a gift shop that features only Michigan-made items and refreshments.

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